Ex-Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority director Shiva Balakrishna arrested
HYDERABAD: Former HMDA director (town planning) Shiva Balakrishna was arrested in the wee hours of Thursday. As many as 18 ACB teams raided the residences and offices of Balakrishna and his relatives in Puppalaguda and 16 other locations on Wednesday.
The raids began early in the day and carried on till late at night, while he was arrested at 3 am. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against Balakrishna as he has acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income by indulging in corrupt practices during his service, sources said.
As per a statement, the teams seized Rs 99.60 lakh in cash, 1.9 kg of gold ornaments and 6 kg of silver articles. Additionally, documents related to movable and immovable properties worth around Rs 5.96 crore were recovered, the statement said, adding that the value of the assets identified during the searches was Rs 8.26 crore.
However, the officials said the figures were only as per government valuation and that the market value would be many times higher than the document value. They said the verification of additional assets is currently underway.Officials said efforts are underway to produce Balakrishna in court.